Sending collectibles to the eBay vault
A submission flow for sending trading cards worth $250 or more to the eBay vault (now PSA Vault) by mail or in person at a trading card event.
Role: Lead content designer
Team: Product manager, lead product designer, UX researcher, business partners, product counsel
Year: 2023
Status: Shipped to US collectors
The challenge
Trading cards are one of eBay's top collectibles categories, and many collectors treat them like an alternative asset: they want to buy, sell, and trade high-value cards quickly and with confidence.
In 2022, I helped to launch to the eBay vault, a secure 31,000-square-foot secure facility where cards can change owners without ever being shipped. At first, the only way to send cards to the vault was to send an eBay purchase there. Collectors who already owned valuable cards couldn’t use it.
The submission service changed that: collectors could send in graded cards worth $250 or more from any source. For collectors, that meant security and faster selling. For eBay, a card in the vault is more likely to sell on eBay than one sitting at home, and more inventory means more buying and selling.
What I did
We shipped in two releases: an MVP tested with a small group of power users, then a first phase for US customers.
Made a multi-step process feel manageable. I wrote a four-step progress model (Create, Add, Confirm, Pay) and an intro that explains how it works before collectors commit.
Designed for two very different paths. Mailing cards and dropping them off at an eBay booth involve different instructions, timing, and documents. Each path shows collectors only what applies to them.
Answered eligibility in the moment. When a collector enters a card's estimated value, the flow confirms right away whether it qualifies, instead of failing at the end.
Planned for scale. Collectors with many cards are pointed to a desktop bulk upload of up to 100 cards, with progress saved as a draft.
Kept collectors informed after hand-off. I wrote a four-stage status model (Received, Under review, Reviewed, Complete) with a clear next step at each stage, ending with a path to see the card in My Collection.
Outcome
eBay announced the submission service in July 2023. Collectors could submit through the eBay app, a web form, or upload a spreadsheet, and drop cards off in person at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago. Only three months after launch, the population of cards in the eBay vault had doubled, representing $54.6 million AUM and 11.5K listings.
What I learned
This was my first major service design project, where we had to account for the customer experience and employee experience in person.